


The Marionette Champion

by OdysseusOfGaming



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28442052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OdysseusOfGaming/pseuds/OdysseusOfGaming
Summary: She lurks in the night, offering protection to those who require, but cannot protect themselves. Her work is tireless, but so is she.
Kudos: 9





	The Marionette Champion

She awoke.

A single message on her mind.

“Stop those monsters!”

So she did. She jumped into action, slamming the monsters with her whole arms, clumsily. Fighting wasn’t exactly what she was supposed to do, but she did it anyway. Out of them all, she did it best. Lasted longer. So the messages on her mind told her, anyway. But all things come to an end, and so did the night. And with it, came the dismissal. A good job, she were told. And so she fell to the ground, motionless…

But her mind remained, if for but a moment. And in that moment, she dreamt.

A beautiful Dream.

She stood on a field,  blurry and unfocused to her sight. The entire experience was alien to her; the light on her eyes, sounds she could hear, the wind on her skin…

Skin. She looked at her skin, and it seemed different. Flat, malleable. Not hers.

But it also did not seem wrong. It was weird and alien, but not entirely… bad.

She moved her arms, and to her surprise, the field followed. Flowers raised and moved on her slightest command, and it puzzled her. She couldn’t understand this.

And then she was back to normal, sitting on a large, white space. She couldn’t tell ground from wall. Or if there were walls.

But there was a voice.

-Oh, hello. You must be… oh! But… you… are a doll!

And so she was. What was wrong with that? It was what she had always been. She had been built a marionette, out of wood and painted black and white, to entertain children. A purpose that she had never really doubted, despite her sudden enrollment in protecting others a few moments before.

- But how did you…? Certainly you shouldn’t even be able to be here. Maybe some other power interfered?

She couldn’t answer. Of course not. She was a doll. She didn’t speak.

-Well… the matter of fact is, of course, that you are here. I wonder if it would be possible…

Possible to do what? She didn’t understand.

- I suppose I could try this… yes, this seems good. I hope this works for you, my dear. Good luck.

For a single moment, an odd feeling overcame her, and she tried to look at the voice.

But she couldn’t remember if she succeeded.

…

…

Her eyes opened.

That was weird. They had never done that before.

It occurred to her that she shouldn’t have a way of knowing that, since the notion wouldn’t be common for a doll. It then occurred to her that that thought itself was something she wouldn’t normally know. And from there she spent  a long amount of time contemplating how her existence was working, before deciding to stop lest she spend the whole night lying on the ground thinking.

So she stood up. (Still wondering why she even knew she was able to do that.)

She looked to her own hands. Still made of wood, although much more articulate than before. (Literally. Wait, had she just made a joke?) She felt… bigger, however. And different. Taking steps forward, she stumbled at first over her own body, confused with how everything worked. She eventually stumbled in front of a reflective wall (the word “mirror” popped in her head, but she didn’t know what it meant) and took some time to observe that she had, indeed, changed.

For one, she was indeed bigger than usual. Normally  half the size of the children she should entertain, she found herself now almost  at the ceiling ,  barely fitting her mirrored image. (Oh, that’s what “mirror” meant)  Her body had remained mostly the same,  wood  painted white with black, inked features upon it, although her eyes now worked  like regular human eyes.  Her hair, which was normally a sort of silky plastic, now seemed… a different kind of strand, long, reaching down to her hip articulation, and painted a strong blue color. Her dress, usually a very simple piece, was now a long velvet piece, made in a gothic style with puffy sleeves, ruffles and layers upon layers of black, golden and blue cloth.  This appearance was… unusual, but not entirely unwelcome? Her primary concern was that her height would scare children.

A noise came from outside, which made her curious. She opened the door to the outside (a weird shimmery effect moved away from the door, she didn’t quite understand why) and left to check.  A group of girls was fighting a monster nearby, protecting what seemed to be an older man with a camera on his hand.

An adult and teenagers. Eugh. The memory of a shelf and a lot of dust came to her, and she decided to leave. They would be able to hold their own.

For a while in the night, she simply wandered. Everywhere she went, teenagers, either fighting monsters or talking things amongst themselves, none of which interested her. Thus she wandered, not exactly knowing or intending where, just… wandering. Curiously enough, she found herself in front of a small shop. A wood carver, of all things, sitting there almost forgotten between a diner and another building.

On this night, however, it had garnered attention. Far too much attention, in fact, as a beclawed monster and it’s cohorts had scratched their way through a window, leaving wooden toys strewn all over.  In a sudden rage, she motioned to attack the monsters, and as if on her command, strings left her fingers, connecting to the toys and raising them under her control. This  _horrified_ her. She did not mean to take their will away, only to protect them!

The monsters, however, did not wait, and pounced upon her friends, breaking their frames apart. In a move of desperation, an attempt to protect them, she tried to move the strings, tried to use them against the monsters… and instead, connected to them. The two monsters she connected to went limp, as if awaiting command. Confused, she moved her hands, and the monsters moved with her. They went where she wanted, did what she wanted.

Her wooden form gave way to a devious smile.

She turned the monsters on each other, the confused creatures barely being able to react as she danced around their claws, punishing their horrendous crime.  By the end, there stood none but her, and her two new lackeys,  triumphant amidst the night.

In the distance, a sound. A warning? She wasn’t sure what it meant…

And then, as if by twist of fate, the monsters disappeared, and she turned into a doll as the barrier vanished.

…

…

Her eyes opened again. Still weird.

She was inside a house, now, and could for some reason tell this was a different night. She was inside somebody’s bedroom, sitting on a chair, as a girl stood on the corner of her bed to peer out of the window. She stood up, which startled the girl, who was at first scared, but then…

-I knew it! You’re not just a doll! You’re a girl! A real Magical Girl!

Somehow, on the back of her mind, this seemed right, even though she didn’t know what the words meant. She took a moment to look at the girl, who stared at her with such adoring eyes. She seemed… different from the girls from the other night. Her hair was long and a very light brown, almost red, and her eyes blue.  The girl also wore some old pajamas, with a… blue triangle on it? She hadn’t seen that symbol before.

-I knew you weren’t a regular doll from the store, I knew it! You’re nothing like the ones grandpa makes, you’re magic!

She took another second, unsure of what to do.

-Can you talk? - The girl asked. - You’re made out of wood… How do you even work?

-I do not know. - She answered.

This came as a surprise to both. She could talk? It was a very unusual voice, as if wood knocking on wood… which was probably the case, they both thought.

-So you  _can_ talk! That’s so cool! And you’re transformed and everything, with such a nice dress! Are you going to help protect the city tonight?

She was  confused about all this. Taking what seemed like a good chance, she moved towards the window.

-Yes. I will go protect the city. - She said, her hand moving to undo the clasp on the window.

-Wait!

She turned around. The girl had called out to her, and grabbed onto a part of her dress. She was looking down, seemingly embarrassed.

-Do… do you have anywhere to go back to when the night’s over?

She stood silently, confused.

-When… when the night starts ending. You turn back into a doll, right? Don’t you need a place to stay? I can keep you here! I’ll take care of you! I…

Small tears appeared on the girl’s face.

-I never had the Dream. But I want to help. I want to help! I… I can help you stay safe so you can go out there at night to fight the monsters! If you’d like.

She looked at the girl, unblinkingly, but considering. Whatever… whyever she had been given this power… she could use it, couldn’t she? And maybe not falling on the ground and getting dirty every night would be good for a change.

She quietly nodded. The girl’s face lit up.

-I can! Thank you, thank you so much! - The girl hugged her, despite the wooden frame. - My name is Josephine! What’s… do… do you have a name?

She wondered for a moment. She had had names before. Different girls had given her different names. None seemed appropriate. None were chosen by her either. She didn’t really know what to say. All she knew was what she was…

-Pine. - Said the marionette. - You can call me Pine.

And so she was.


End file.
